a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to muzzle guards for firearms, and, more particularly, to a strike plate for preventing the slide of an automatic pistol from being pushed out of battery by an impact to the muzzle.
b. Related Art
The majority of modern automatic pistols employ full-length slides in which the barrel and its associated mechanisms are housed. In most designs, recoil upon firing of the pistol causes the barrel and slide to move rearwardly together for a short distance, after which the slide continues its rearward movement so as to open the breach and eject the shell of the spent cartridge. A spring or springs return the slide in a forward direction, so that it strips a fresh cartridge from the clip and chambers it in the barrel. The barrel and slide then move forwardly together to the firing position.
The initial range of motion, where the slide and barrel first move rearwardly together, releases the barrel from its firing position and moves it “out of battery”. When the barrel is out of battery, the trigger and firing pin mechanism is disabled. As a result, even a slight rearward movement of the slide and barrel will render it impossible to fire the cartridge even though it is chambered in the barrel.
This characteristic is near universal among the most advanced and modern types of pistols; it is an inherent aspect of their operation and is, in some respects, a desirable safety feature. Such pistols include, for example, the 9 mm Glock™ pistol that is widely utilized by Western security and special forces organizations.
Since the foregoing characteristics have been commonplace in automatic pistols of one caliber or another for over a century, they are well known to both friend and foe alike. Consequently, one tactic that has been adopted for close-quarters combat (e.g., hand-to-hand combat in a dwelling) is to strike the muzzle of an opponent's gun with a hand or other object, so that the pistol is disabled, while attacking the opponent with the other hand. This tactic poses an increasing problem with the need to combat fanatical and desperate opponents who frequently hide and fight within civilian buildings.
Moreover, in close quarters combat it sometimes occurs that the pistol must be discharged with its muzzle pressed directly against the body of the opponent. If, however, the opponent is wearing body armor (or if the muzzle happens to be pressed against a hard object that is being carried or worn by the opponent) the body will not yield and instead the barrel and slide may be forced rearwardly and out of battery so that the pistol cannot be fired.
Still further, certain tactics call for the muzzle end of the pistol to be used as a striking tool or weapon; for example, the muzzle may be employed to break out the window of an automobile in order to gain access to the interior and/or occupants. However, the design of the muzzle is typically optimized for operation of the firearm itself, not for use as a striking tool, so it is generally deficient for this purpose in terms of mass, strength and other characteristics.
Certain efforts have been made to address one or more of these problems. However, the prior devices have generally been unsatisfactory in one or more respects: For example, some have required modification of the pistol itself, at significant expense, and have employed mountings, that are not easily detached in a field environment; the latter is a significant drawback, since in most cases the front of the barrel and slide must be unobstructed in order to field strip the pistol. Moreover, prior efforts have frequently focused on the US M1911 .45ACP service pistol, an obsolescent (if still popular) weapon that lacks features and aspects associated with modern pistol design, typified by the Glock™ (e.g., Glock 17) pistols noted above.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus that will protect the muzzle end of an automatic pistol so as to prevent the barrel and slide from being pushed back out of battery by an impact thereto. Furthermore, there exists a need for such an apparatus that significantly improves the characteristics of the muzzle end of the pistol as striking weapon or tool. Still further, there exists a need for such an apparatus that can be easily and quickly detached from the pistol for field stripping of the weapon. Still further, there exists a need for such an apparatus that cooperates with and enhances the features provided by modern pistol designs, as exemplified by the Glock™ series of pistols.